Cleveland State weighs campus ban on tobacco use

A smoker holds a cigarette on May 31, 2011 in San Francisco, California.

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CLEVELAND - Officials at Cleveland State University are considering a ban on tobacco use on campus.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports ( http://bit.ly/TPTbQ5 ) that the board of trustees' financial affairs committee recommended Thursday that the university develop a policy to ban all tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco.

The full board is expected take up the policy at its November meeting. School officials estimate about 4,400 students and about 300 faculty and staff smoke.

The policy comes after the Ohio Board of Regents voted unanimously in July to urge the state's public campuses to ban all sales and use of tobacco products, including smoking outdoors.

At least seven public colleges or universities in Ohio currently have tobacco bans, including Miami University, Hocking College, and the health science campus of the University of Toledo.

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